Student? Former student? Graduate? Unemployed?

Since the age of about four, when you first begin nursery, you've known either consciously or subconsciously what's coming next. Or rather your parents did and that's all that mattered. Nursery, reception, primary school, secondary school and then it's either a job or college/sixth form and then university. I'm at the extremely difficult transitional phase of moving from student to responsible adult. I don't actually know what to call myself. I'm no longer a student, but still awaiting my grades and graduation, I'm not a graduate either. Does that make me unemployed? I've just moved out of the student house I lived in for two years and am now back home, in my parent's house, my room littered with bin bags full of the clothes I have yet to unpack. Since arriving home I have scoured the newspapers and websites for jobs and so far have applied to as many as I can count on one hand. And I know I am not alone. Speaking to many of my friends in the same position, it seems that the unanimous feeling is "There are no jobs for me." Most of us still don't know what we want to do and there is a ridiculous amount of pressure on us to land ourselves a career immediately. Students do get a hard time. They (the majority) work hard at getting the best grade they can in each piece of work they submit, join many societies/additional activities and generally try to do the best they can to better themselves and give them a leg up for their future. Only to be bumped out of university with no idea of where to go or what to do next. I did go to careers advice a couple of times but felt the same helplessness walking out as I did going in. It might be too much to ask, but I feel that students about to go out into the working world need much more support than they are currently getting. And a bit more understanding from those who feel that students are lazy young people unwilling to work.

Kings of Leon - Review

The sky was still heavy with dark clouds, threatening more of the rain that had fallen all afternoon. The ground was sodden and my boots were covered with thick mud. The sun was beginning to move towards the horizon and with a drink in hand, I watched as Paul Weller finished his set. It was time to get moving. We wormed our way through the crowd, which thickened with each step we took. The atmosphere was expectant, electric. Slotting ourselves into the middle of the crowd, we waited. In the low-key, laid back style of Kings of Leon, the band arrived on stage. Opening with Four Kicks, their energy took no time in getting the crowd going. It's been said that a successful artist sounds better live than they do on record. Well these boys definitely did. Despite a sore throat, Caleb delivered an amazing performance of Charmer. McFearless was played in memory of Ryan Dunn of the Jackass series, who sadly passed away this week. Miraculously, the dark clouds had cleared, leaving us with a turquoise sky and midway through their set the sun began to fade; the dusky light adding to the incredible atmosphere. The encore consisted of Radioactive, Use Somebody and Black Thumbnail, with fireworks rising above the stage during the final chords of the last song. I may not have made it to a festival this year, but this sure as hell made up for it!

Photograph from thegumtree.com

The Hangover 2 - Review

If you loved The Hangover, this sequel will not disappoint. It follows the same formula as the first film; four friends have a few too many drinks at a stag do and wake up the next morning with no recollection of what happened the night before. But this time they're in Thailand. With a language barrier, a monkey and the responsibility of looking after a minor thrown into the equation, the 'Wolfpack' faced a whole load of new challenges this time around. I was a little anxious that because the first film hit all the right notes, part 2 was never going to match up. I was wrong. More vulgar, more stunts, and definitely more hilarious, The Hangover 2 is worth going to see!

The Script - Review

Contrary to the reviews I had read before buying tickets to see The Script, there were not just 14 year old girls surrounding us as we stood, Magners in hand, in the standing area of Wembley Arena. I had bought the tickets as a 23rd birthday present for my boyfriend and we were pleased to find that there were people of all ages coming to enjoy their music.

Clare Maguire was the support act. I had only heard a couple of her songs, so wasn’t expecting to enjoy her set as much as I did. Each and every song was delivered with so much feeling and enthusiasm, and she succeeded in getting the crowd going despite the fact she was only on for a short time. Her energy and vigour on stage, paired with her success in interacting with her fans, had almost the entire audience jumping around and singing her lyrics back to her. Her vocal ability was immense too, making me think that this woman won’t be a support act for much longer and is on her way to becoming incredibly popular.

The Script didn’t leave their audience waiting for long after Miss Maguire played her last song. After a quick change of set the boys arrived on stage one by one, greeted by screaming fans. Opening with You Won’t Feel A Thing had the fans going crazy before O’Donoghue even began to sing. As expected, the Irish trio did not disappoint. The vocals were on top form and each song was done justice by their effortless musical ability. Sheehan’s casual humour had the audience smiling in between songs and succeeded in building a connection between the lads on stage and their fans who packed out the arena. Power, although seemingly a man of few words, had an admirable energy on the drums, achieving a fast paced, energetic set that left the fans drumming the floor with their feet, begging for an encore. They of course obliged, coming back to play For The First Time, This=Love and Breakeven before saying their goodbyes and wishing us a good night.

We left the arena in high spirits. We had not seen The Script live before and they did not let us down. If every performance of theirs is like this one, we may even come back to see them again.